Themes Indicative of Participants in Persistent Communication

ABSTRACT

An auditory theme represents at least one participant in a networked group interaction, and reflects an attribute of that participant.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to group communication environments.

BACKGROUND

People increasingly interact by way of networked group communicationmechanisms. Mechanisms of this type include chat rooms, virtualenvironments, conference calls, and online collaboration tools.

Group networked environments offer many advantages, including theability to bring together many individuals in a collaborative fashionwithout the need for mass group travel to a common meeting place.However, group networked environments often fall short in one importantaspect of human communication: richness. It may be challenging to conveycertain aspects of group interaction that go beyond speech. For example,the air of authority that a supervisor or other organization superiorconveys in a face-to-face environment may be lacking in a networkedenvironment. As another example, a networked group interaction may failto convey the many subtle and not-so-subtle expressions of mood that mayaccompany proximity, dress, body language, and inattentiveness in agroup interaction.

SUMMARY

The following summary is intended to highlight and introduce someaspects of the disclosed embodiments, but not to limit the scope of theinvention. Thereafter, a detailed description of illustrated embodimentsis presented, which will permit one skilled in the relevant art to makeand use aspects of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art canobtain a full appreciation of aspects of the invention from thesubsequent detailed description, read together with the figures, andfrom the claims (which follow the detailed description).

An auditory theme is presented representing at least one participant ina networked group interaction, and reflecting an attribute of thatparticipant. The theme may reflect an interaction status of theparticipant. The theme may represent the participant's status in theinteraction, status in an organization, an interaction context of the atleast one participant, or at least one attribute of the at least oneparticipant.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do notnecessarily affect the scope or meaning of the claimed invention.

In the drawings, the same reference numbers and acronyms identifyelements or acts with the same or similar functionality for ease ofunderstanding and convenience. To easily identify the discussion of anyparticular element or act, the most significant digit or digits in areference number refer to the figure number in which that element isfirst introduced.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a networked groupcommunication environment.

FIG. 2 is an action diagram of an embodiment of a method of providing anaudible theme for a participant in networked group communication.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method of determining atheme for a participant in networked group communication.

FIG. 4 is also a flow chart of an embodiment of a method of determininga theme for a participant in networked group communication.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method of determining atheme for a participant in networked group communication according to arole of the participant in an organization.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention will now be described with respect to various embodiments.The following description provides specific details for a thoroughunderstanding of, and enabling description for, these embodiments of theinvention. However, one skilled in the art will understand that theinvention may be practiced without these details. In other instances,well known structures and functions have not been shown or described indetail to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the description of theembodiments of the invention. References to “one embodiment” or “anembodiment” do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment, althoughthey may.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a networked groupcommunication environment. The communication network 102 comprises mixerlogic 108, call control logic 110, streaming logic 112, and a database114. “Logic” refers to signals and/or information that may be applied toaffect the operation of a device. Software and firmware are examples oflogic. Logic may also be embodied in circuits, and/or combinations ofsoftware and circuits.

Clients 104, 105, 106 are devices that communicate with and by way ofthe communication network 102. Some examples of communications clientsare personal computers (PCs), personal digital assistants (PDAs), laptopcomputers, and wireless telephones. A communication network comprisesone more devices cooperating to enable communication between clients ofthe network, and may additionally provide services such as chat, email,and directory assistance. Examples of networks include the Internet,intranets, and public and private telephone networks.

The mixer 108 combines signals representing sounds. The call control 110provides for establishment, termination, and control of connectionsbetween the clients 102,104,106 and the network 102. The stream server112 provides to the clients 102,104,106 information streams representingauditory signals (e.g. sounds). The database 114 comprises collection(s)of information and/or associations among information. Each of theseelements is presented in this embodiment as included within the network102. However, alternative embodiments may locate various of theseelements in the communications clients. Also, some of the functionsprovided by these elements may reside within the network, but particularcommunication clients may comprise similar capabilities and may uselocal capabilities instead of the network functionality.

The clients 102,104,106 may be employed in a networked groupinteraction, such as a conference call, chat room, virtual environment,online game, or online collaboration environment. Auditory themes may bepresented representing the participants of the interaction. The auditorytheme may include one or more tones, one or more songs, one or moretunes, one or more spoken words, one or more sound clips, or one or morejingles, to name just some of the possibilities.

Various effects may be applied to the theme to reflect the participant'sinteraction status or other attributes. For example, the gain, tempo,tone, key, orchestration, orientation or distribution of sound, echo, orreverb of the theme (to name just some of the possible effects) may beadjusted to represent an interaction status or attribute of theparticipant. Examples of participant attributes are the participant'srole or status in an organization, group, association of individuals,legal entity, cause, or belief system. For example, the director of anorganization might have an associated auditory theme that is morepompous, weighty, and serious than the theme for other participants withlesser roles in the same organization. To provide a sense of gravitas,the theme might be presented at lower pitch and with more echo.

Examples of a participant's group interaction status include joinedstatus (e.g. the participant has recently joined the groupcommunication), foreground mode status (e.g. the participant “has thefloor” or is otherwise actively communicating), background mode status(e.g. the participant has not interacted actively in the communicationfor a period of time, or is on hold), dropped status (e.g. theparticipant has ceased participating in the group interaction), orunable to accept communications status (e.g. the participant is busy orotherwise unable to respond to communication).

Another aspect which may determine at least in part the participant'sauditory theme is the participant's interaction context. The interactioncontext includes a level of the participant's interaction aggression(e.g. how often and/or how forcefully the participant interacts),virtual interaction proximity of the participant to the otherparticipants, or a role of the participant in the interaction. Byvirtual interaction proximity is meant some form of location, which maybe an absolute or relative physical location such as geographic locationor location within a building or room or with respect to the otherparticipants. As an example of the latter, if all of the participantsare at one location in Phoenix except for one who is in Washington D.C.,the distance between that individual and the rest of the groupparticipants may be reflected in some characteristic of his auditorytheme. Alternatively or additionally, it may be a virtual location suchas a simulated location in the interaction environment. For example,when a group is playing a game over a network, one of the participantsmay be (virtually) in a cave, while the others are (virtually) in aforest. The virtual locations of the individual participants may bereflected in some characteristics of their auditory themes.

Another aspect which may determine at least in part the participant'sauditory theme is at least one attribute of the participant. Attributescomprise a participant's age (e.g. a child might have a lighter, moreenergetic theme), gender, location, recognition as an expert, educationlevel (such as PhD, doctor), membership in a group or organization, orphysical attributes such as a degree of deafness (e.g. the auditorytheme might be made louder, simpler, or suppressed).

The auditory theme may be presented in an ongoing fashion during theparticipant's participation in the interaction. Alternatively oradditionally, the auditory signal may be presented in a transitoryfashion in response to an interaction event. Examples of an interactionevent include non-auditory events, such as interaction with a control orobject of the interaction environment. An on-going auditory theme mayhave transitory themes interspersed within its presentation.

FIG. 2 is an action diagram of an embodiment of a method of providing anaudible theme for a participant in networked group communication.Participants join, drop off, rejoin, and reject participation in thegroup communication, among other things. During these interactions, anauditory signal (i.e. theme) is set for a networked group interactionwhich may comprise an indication of an available status of at least oneparticipant of the group. For example, when one potential participant inthe group communication rejects participation, at least one themeassociated with that participant may reflect a busy signal.

At 202 communication client 1, associated with a first participant,provides a request to join the networked group interaction. At 204 and206 the call control looks up and retrieves from the database an audiotheme representing that the first participant in particular has joinedthe interaction. At 208 this theme is mixed with other themes for otherparticipants.

At 210 a second communication client 2, associated with a secondparticipant, provides an indication that the second participant has gone“on hold”. At 212 the call control sets a gain for the secondparticipant's theme, corresponding to the second participant being “onhold”. Thus, the audible signal presented to the other communicationparticipants in association with the second participant indicates thatthe second participant is now on hold. An example of such indicationmight be presentation of an attenuated theme for the second participant.

At 214 a third communication client 3, associated with a thirdparticipant, drops out of the group interaction. At 216 the call controlceases presentation of the audible theme associated with the thirdparticipant.

At 218 the first participant attempts to rejoin the third participantwith the group interaction. At 220 and 224 the call control looks up andretrieves an audio theme representing that the third participant isbeing rejoined to the group interaction. At 226 the stream server mixesthis audio theme with the themes for the other participants. However,when at 228 the call control attempts to rejoin the third participantwith the interaction, the third participant rejects the attempt at 230.At 232 and 234 the call control looks up and retrieves an audio themeindicating that the third participant has rejected the attempt to joinhim (or her) with the interaction. This audio theme may in someembodiments reflect a busy signal. At 236 the theme for the thirdparticipant is mixed with the themes for the other participants.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method of determining atheme for a participant in a networked group interaction. At 302 aparticipant status is determined. At 304 a theme corresponding to theparticipant and status is determined. At 306 the signal gain (e.g.volume) for the theme is set at least in part according to theparticipant status. The resulting auditory signal includes at least onetheme indicative of an attention status of at least one participant ofthe networked group interaction. The attention status is indicative ofthe level of participation in the group communication. Indications ofattention level include number, length, loudness, and frequency ofresponses to communication by others; whether or not the participant ison hold; whether or not the participant has dropped; and whether or notthe participant responds to questions. At 308 the process concludes.

Of course, this is merely one example of either selecting or adjusting atheme according to a participant and some aspect or attribute of thatparticipant.

FIG. 4 is also a flow chart of an embodiment of a method of determininga theme for a participant in networked group communication. The themevolume characteristics are modified to reflect the availability statusof the participant.

If at 402 the participant status has changed, a check is made at 404 todetermine if the participant has dropped out of the group interaction.If the participant has dropped, the theme for the participant is stoppedat 406. If the participant has not dropped, a check is made at 408 todetermine if the participant's status has changed to a “background”mode, which is a less interactive status such as “on hold”. If theparticipant status has changed to background, the theme gain for theparticipant is reduced at 412.

If the participant has not changed to a background status, a check at410 determines if the participant now has a foreground status, which isan active participation status, for example, perhaps the participant“has the floor” and is speaking or otherwise providing activecommunication in the interaction. If so, the gain for the participant'stheme is increased at 414. In some situations, it may be suitable tostop, suppress, or otherwise attenuate the theme of the active speaker,and/or the non-active speakers, so as not to interfere with spokencommunications among the participants. A result is an ongoing,device-mediated interaction among multiple participants, wherein aricher amount of information relating to attributes of the participantsis conveyed via ongoing and transient themes particular to a participant(or group of participants) and attributes thereof.

At 416 a theme is located corresponding to the participant and status.The theme is started at 420. If at 422 the participant isunwilling/unable to join, an unable/unwilling theme (such as a busysignal) is mixed at 424 with the participant's selected theme asmodified to reflect his status. At 426 the process concludes.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a method of determining atheme for a participant in networked group communication according to arole of the participant in an organization. The role of a participant inthe group interaction may reflect their role in an organization, or maybe unrelated. For example, a secretary in a business may assume the roleof group moderator in a networked group interaction. At least one themedetermined in this manner may be reflected in the final auditory signalspresented to at least one group communication participant. At 502 aparticipant's role, position, or status in an organization isidentified. One method of identifying the participants role, position,or status is from information of an organization chart. At 504 a themeis located corresponding at least in part to the participant's role,status, or position in the organization. At 506 the theme is set. At 508a gain for the theme (e.g. determining the volume) is set at least inpart according to the participant's role, position, or status in theorganization. For example, if one of the group participants is head of aproduct group, and another is her secretary acting in the role oftranscriber, the gain for the product group head may be set such thather theme is has higher volume than her secretary's theme. At 510 theprocess concludes.

Again, this is merely one example of setting a theme and/or theme effectaccording to an attribute of the participant.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or pluralnumber also include the plural or singular number respectively.Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, shall refer to this applicationas a whole and not to any particular portions of this application. Whenthe claims use the word “or” in reference to a list of two or moreitems, that word covers all of the following interpretations of theword: any of the items in the list, all of the items in the list and anycombination of the items in the list.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: determining at least one participant in a networked group interaction; and presenting an auditory theme representing the at least one participant.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting an auditory theme representing the at least one participant further comprises: presenting an auditory theme representing the at least one participant and an interaction status of the at least one participant.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein presenting an auditory theme representing the at least one participant further comprises: presenting an auditory theme representing at least one of the participant's status in the interaction, status in an organization, an interaction context of the at least one participant, or at least one attribute of the at least one participant.
 4. The method of claim 3 wherein the at least one attribute of the at least one participant status in the interaction further comprises: at least one of a participant age, affiliation, gender, or location.
 5. The method of claim 3 wherein the at least one participant status in the interaction further comprises: at least one joined status, foreground mode status, background mode status, dropped status, or unable to accept communications status.
 6. The method of claim 3 wherein the at least one attribute of the at least one participant further comprises: at least one participant membership in a group or an organization.
 7. The method of claim 3 wherein the interaction context further comprises at least one of: a level of the participant's interaction aggression, virtual interaction proximity of the participant to other participants of the interaction, or a role of the participant in the interaction.
 8. The method of claim 3, wherein the auditory theme further comprises at least one of: one or more tones, one or more songs, one or more tunes, one or more spoken words, one or more sound clips, or one or more jingles.
 9. The method of claim 3 wherein presenting the auditory signal further comprises: setting at least one of a gain, tempo, tone, key, orchestration, orientation or distribution of sound, echo, or reverb effect of the auditory signal according to at least one of the participant status in the interaction, status in an organization, an interaction context of the at least one participant, or at least one attribute of the at least one participant.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the auditory signal is presented in an ongoing fashion during the participant's participation in the interaction.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the auditory signal is presented in a transitory fashion in response to an interaction event.
 12. The method of claim 9 wherein setting the gain of the auditory signal further comprises: setting the gain according to whether the at least one participant status is a foreground mode status or a background mode status.
 13. The method of claim 9 wherein setting the gain of the auditory signal further comprises: attenuating the auditory signal when the at least one participant status is a background mode status.
 14. The method of claim 7 further comprising: terminating presenting the theme when at least one participant status changes to dropped status.
 15. The method of claim 3 further comprising: mixing the auditory signal with a second auditory signal representing an unable to accept communications status.
 16. The method of claim 15 wherein the second auditory signal further comprises: a busy signal.
 17. The method of claim 6 further comprising: the at least one participant status in an organization determined from an organization chart.
 18. The method of claim 6 further comprising: setting a gain of the auditory signal according to the at least one participant status in an organization.
 19. The method of claim 18 wherein setting a gain of the auditory signal further comprises: setting the gain according to at least one participant corresponding position in an organization chart.
 20. A user interface comprising: an auditory signal comprising at least one theme indicative of an attention status of at least one participant of a networked group interaction.
 22. The user interface of claim 20 wherein the attention status is indicative of a level of participation in the interaction.
 22. The user interface of claim 20 further comprising: a volume of at least one theme of the auditory signal indicative of the attention status of the at least one participant.
 23. The user interface of claim 20 wherein the at least one theme further comprises: at least one theme indicative of a status in an organization of the at least one participant.
 24. The user interface of claim 23 further comprising: a volume of the at least one theme indicative of the status of the at least one participant in the organization.
 25. A method comprising: setting an auditory signal for a networked group interaction comprising at least one theme indicative of an organization status of at least one participant of the group.
 26. The method of claim 25 further comprising: a volume of the at least one theme indicative of the status of the at least one participant in the organization.
 27. A method comprising: setting an auditory signal for a networked group interaction comprising at least one theme indicative of an available status of at least one participant of the group.
 28. The method of claim 27 further comprising: a volume of the at least one theme indicative of the available status of the at least one participant.
 29. The method of claim 27 wherein the at least one theme further comprises: a busy signal. 